Nancy Pelosi has criticised John Boehner for helping lobbyists advance their political agendas. Getty

September 14, 2010

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House Minority Leader John Boehner has close ties to powerful lobbyists representing some of America's biggest businesses, including Goldman Sachs, Google, Citigroup, and R.J. Reynolds, according to The New York Times. And the lobbyists, who have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to Boehner's campaigns, often ask for, and frequently get, Boehner's help advancing their agenda in Washington, the Times reports. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom Boehner hopes to replace if the GOP takes the House in November, has criticized Boehner for being too close to corporate interests. Will Boehner's business ties hurt him and the GOP in the upcoming elections? (Watch the DNC's anti-Boehner ad)

Boehner's corporate ties are already hurting him: John Boehner is "corporate America's man in Washington," says Joy Reid in The Reid Report, and he knows that makes him vulnerable in a year when voters are angry about the economy. As soon as the Times pointed out his cozy relationship with lobbyists, Boehner "blinked" on the issue of extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich. Thanks to Boehner's ties to Big Business, it looks like the Democrats may win this "game of chicken," after all."Under fire for corporate ties, Boehner blinks on tax cuts for the rich"